Desperate Blayney gold mine developer wrote to Anthony Albanese for help

The developer behind a contentious gold mine proposed for regional NSW wrote to the Prime Minister three months ago asking for help after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek deemed the project a problem.

The Prime Minister failed to act on written pleas from the developer behind a contentious gold mine in regional NSW despite later claiming he was supportive of the project.

Regis Resources wrote to Anthony Albanese’s office on June 7 after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek flagged she would be opposing the developer’s chosen location for the tailings dam due to Aboriginal heritage concerns.

In the letter Regis made it clear that the Section 10 order from Ms Plibersek went against the advice of the government’s own specialist assessor who ruled it should not apply in this case.

“The independent section 10 reporter … recommended that a declaration impacting McPhillamys not be made,” the letter said.

“I am writing to request an urgent phone call to discuss extremely concerning and potentially precedent setting restrictions that we understand could be imposed.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been dragged into the gold mine bungle. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

There’s a last-ditch attempt to axe ­Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to block part of the new gold mine. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Albanese had said he is supportive of the project and called on Regis to find another location for the tailings dam but the developer has claimed finding a new location would not be viable.

Coalition Senators are confidently working towards securing enough support for a last-ditch attempt to axe Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to block part of a new gold mine.

The Daily Telegraph understands Coalition MPs are working with members of the crossbench to support a disallowance motion which would torpedo Ms Plibersek’s ban on the McPhillamys gold mine’s proposed tailing site, near Blayney.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation members and Senator Gerard Rennick are believed to be on board with the disallowance motion, while the votes of Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie and independent Tasmanian Senator Tammy Tyrrell have been targeted as critical.

Other members of the crossbench, including former Wallaby David Pocock and former Greens MP Lidia Thorpe, are highly unlikely to support the move.

The area of ‘cultrual signifance’. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The Coalition has also hoped former Labor Senator Fatima Payman could support the move, citing her support of live sheep exports, the opposite stance to her former party.

The motion is set to be voted on September 9.

Coalition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam said he was confident of securing the numbers at The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit, held on Thursday at Orange.

“This is an incredibly important motion not only for the people of Blayney, but for the economic and social empowerment of Indigenous communities, and our investment climate, right across Australia,” he said on Friday.

He added it was time Ms Plibersek and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reverse the “absurd” decision.

“The wrong call has been made. The people of Blayney and New South Wales are worse off as a result, and everyone from the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council to the Premier knows it,” he said.

“The people of Blayney are the sacrificial lamb in Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese’s pursuit of inner-city Greens votes.”

The proposed mine was a key topic at the Bush Summit, coming after Ms Plibersek used obscure Indigenous heritage legislation to block a tailings dam site for the mine.

Regis Resources says the decision now threatens the viability of the $1 billion project.

Premier Chris Minns on Thursday added his government would support attempts to fast track permission for a new location for the tailings dam if Regis pursued it.

Ms Plibersek on the same day doubled down on her action, saying she was “certain” of it.

“I’m confident (in) the decision I’ve made … I need to examine the information before me, I need to think hard about those decisions … and then I need to follow the law,” she said.

Proud Wiradjuri man and former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council Roy Ah-See, who represented the Orange Local Area Land Council at the Bush Summit, used the event to blast the decision.

“Here we’ve got a Minister knocking back a mine which could create economic empowerment for my people … At the end of the day this undermines our structures and systems … not all Aboriginal people are environmentalists. We’re about economic empowerment for our people,” he said.

Originally published as Desperate Blayney gold mine developer wrote to Anthony Albanese for help